Armenia's response to Russia's recognition of the LPR and DPR

The signing of decrees on the recognition of the DPR and LPR is being actively discussed in the expert community of Armenia. Political scientists, politicians, experts on security and international relations, and journalists share assessments of what this means and how it may affect the situation around Nagorno-Karabakh.

“Georgia condemns recognition of Donetsk and Luhansk” – Tbilisi slams Moscow's moves in Ukraine

Tbilisi’s reaction to the recognition of Donetsk and Lugansk is strongly negative. President Zurabishvili noted that this is a repetition of the 2008 events, which led to the occupation of 20% of Georgia’s territory

Tigran Grigoryan, political scientist:

“Let’s hope that the recognition of the LNR and the DNR is an attempt by the Russian authorities to save face and an alternative to a large-scale war”.

Sosi Tatikyan, expert on security issues and international relations:

“Do you even understand that amid of the development of Russian-Ukrainian events, we [Armenia] will become a case study of how you can miss all the opportunities provided by the international regulatory framework, which are now being used to the maximum by both sides of the current conflict?

However, we do not believe in the possibilities provided by international norms, which have almost never been used. Instead, we prefer to blame the whole world, resent this world and remain trapped in geopolitical fatalism”.

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Hakob Badalyan, political commentator

“Those who do not sympathize with Putin and Russia are declaring that with this step, Putin simply hammered a nail in his own coffin. Those who sympathize with Putin and dislike the West are slapping the West.

And everyone judges the reality and the situation only by the news broadcast by the media, while world politics does not begin and end with them”.

Russia recognizes LPR and DPR – what's next? Opinion from Abkhazia

Abkhazia’s reaction to Russia’s recognition of LNR and DNR and the prospect of a new Union appearing in the post-Soviet space

Artur Khachatryan, member of the Armenian Parliament

“Armenia must respect the right of any nation to free self-determination. I will say more, we believe that Armenia should have recognized the independence of Artsakh in the very first days of the 44-day war in 2020. The former authorities did not recognize the independence of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, so as not to disrupt the negotiation process.

But when Azerbaijan, Turkey, and the jihadists launched a large-scale war against Artsakh, there was no rational explanation as to why its independence was not recognized.

According to the Deliberative Decision of the International Court of Justice on the self-proclamation of Kosovo, the principle of territorial integrity operates when two internationally recognized states recognize each other’s territorial integrity, but this does not prevent any country from unilaterally declaring independence.

We stand for the absolutization of the right of peoples to self-determination. Therefore, Armenia should consider the issue of recognizing the DPR and LPR and make a timely decision”.

Azerbaijani expert: "Putin did not surprise us this time"

Azerbaijan’s response to Putin’s recognition of LNR and DNR was quite negative. However, political scientist Shahin Jafarli notes that he is not at all surprised by the behavior of Azerbaijan’s northern neighbor

David Galstyan, MP of the unrecognized NKR

“Putin explained in the best possible way why it is necessary to recognize the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh. If we replace the words Ukraine and Donetsk with Azerbaijan and Artsakh in his speech, we will see that everything coincides. So I think this is a new chance for us.

It is necessary to initiate a similar bill from our side. Unfortunately, at this crucial moment, the authorities of Armenia and Artsakh are weaker than ever. In any case, everything must be done so that such a project is immediately adopted.